In the central kitchen of the World Food Program in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, employees work to combat hunger by preparing meals for refugee camps, where thousands of families await food that is sometimes their only meal of the day. File Photo by Orlando Barria/EPA UPI

July 30 (UPI) -- Latin America and the Caribbean is among one of few regions in the world in which hunger has declined in recent years, with a sustained drop in undernourishment since 2020.

In 2024, the prevalence of undernourishment in the region fell to 5.1%, down from 6.1% during the pandemic, according to the United Nations' State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025 report.

The main driver of this improvement has been South America, while the Caribbean and Central America show stagnation or setbacks, with hunger levels still considered concerning.

South America saw the most significant improvement, with the share of people facing hunger dropping to 3.8% in 2024 from 5.5% in 2020. Moderate or severe food insecurity also declined, falling to 25.2% in 2024 from 26.7% in 2023 -- roughly 9 million fewer people impacted in one year.

The downward trend is attributed to social protection policies, school meal programs and support for small-scale farming -- initiatives the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization calls successful models for tackling food insecurity.

By contrast, Central America showed no progress between 2023 and 2024.

However, the Caribbean continues to face one of the most severe situations: an estimated 17.5% of its population may be experiencing chronic hunger -- more than three times the regional average.

Haiti remains among the hardest-hit countries, with nearly half its population, about 5.7 million people, facing acute food insecurity, including nearly 9,000 at risk of famine.

Overall, an estimated 33.6 million people across the region experienced hunger last year.

One of the report's key milestones is Brazil's removal from the food and agriculture organization's "Hunger Map," after reducing its undernourishment rate below the 2.5% threshold.

This is the second time Brazil has met the benchmark, having first left the map in 2014 before being added again in 2021. Between 2022 and 2024, 24.4 million Brazilians moved out of severe food insecurity, and the extreme poverty rate dropped to 4.4%.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva celebrated the milestone on social media, crediting the progress to a set of social policies, including a higher minimum wage, expanded school meal programs, support for family farming and the relaunch of the Brazil Without Hunger initiative.

Other Latin American countries currently off the map include Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Uruguay. The rest of the region -- including Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti -- remain above the 2.5% threshold and stay on the list.

The 2025 report notes that the most effective hunger-reduction programs in the region share several key elements: government procurement from small-scale producers to supply schools and community kitchens, strong institutional frameworks, stable funding, territorial approaches and cultural sensitivity.

According to the food and agriculture organization, these policies have helped reduce hunger even under challenging economic and climate conditions.

However, the report warns that the region remains highly vulnerable: about 74% of Latin American countries experienced extreme weather events -- such as droughts, storms or floods -- over the past year, disrupting agricultural production and driving up food prices. These shocks have heightened the risk of malnutrition, especially among rural households, women and children.

Globally, 8.2% of the population -- about 673 million people -- faced hunger in 2024, a slight improvement from 8.5% in 2023. Still, the numbers remain above pre-pandemic levels.